This Veterans Day
We Honor
Those Who Enter Battle Unarmed
This November 11 th let us broaden the public understanding of what it is to serve one’s community through facing conflict. Traditionally, young men (and more recently young women) have associated this kind of service singularly with the armed forces. In an effort to bring a more peaceful alternative to light, you are invited to a morning ceremony at the new Gandhi memorial in Northwest Washington, DC. This ceremony honors as veterans those who risk their lives for peace through non-violent conflict work.
Official veteran status for non-violent conflict workers (e.g. Peace Brigades International and Witness for Peace ), in addition to simply further legitimizing the value of unarmed service, could also open a significant doorway to start shifting the balance of our armed forces toward non-violent means, as well as provide a bridge for causes like the National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund , which lobbies for taxpayers to have the choice to give federal tax money designated for war to peace-building alternatives instead.
In addition to honoring non-violent conflict workers, the ceremony will include the announcement of the Arbor Day Peace Walk to Colombia, a peace walk from Washington, DC to Colombia, leaving the April 27, 2001 (Arbor Day). The walk will further embody a commitment to non-violent conflict work, and upon its completion walkers may use their participation as a base to continue lobbying in their home countries for recognition of non-violent conflict workers as veterans, training for non-violent participation in the military, and the need for choice regarding the paying of taxes for war.
Background courtesy of The Background Boutique.
